SD: Curse of the Lake Monster
by AJScoob
Summary: My take on SD:COTLM. Based off the movie but with twists and more Fraphne. Possible OC in later chapters. Rated T but maybe M later, depending where it goes. MY FIRST STORY!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I've been reading Scooby-Doo fanfiction for a long time but I've never seen myself as someone who is capable of writing it because I much prefer other people's stories so here we go. I've recently been rewatching as many Scooby-Doo movies and shows as I can because I missed it, it was legit my entire childhood. I'm a huge Fraphne shipper and when I rewatched Curse of the Lake Monster last night I was reminded of how disappointed I was with the entire relationship thing. So I'm going to redo the entire movie my way (focusing on Fraphne of course) but I'm going to change things up A LOT so its probably only going to be loosely based off the film. So it might not be to everyone's taste but it's just something I thought would be fun to do. Leave a review if you like. AJ. **

The sun beamed down on Coolsville High, signalling the beginning of summer break. A break that all of the gang had been waiting for, deservingly (even if it did involve having a summer job). However, one member of the gang was looking forward to the end of school more than the others as he sat at his desk, staring intently at the clock until the bell rang. Shaggy shrieked with excitement as the loud bell echoed through the classroom, a bunch of other classmates jumped up from their seats and made their way outside to begin their summer.

Shaggy exited the main doors of the school, frantically searching around for his best buddy Scooby-Doo. "Raggy!" a voice yelled. Shaggy turned his head to the right, to see the huge Great Dane bounding over to him and swiftly knocking him to the ground, proceeding to lick his face.  
"Like Scoob! You're excited for summer too huh?" Shaggy asked, lightly pushing Scooby off him and patting his head. "Reah! RI'm excited ro go to rhe country club."  
"Like of course you are Scoob, you don't have to work like the rest of us!" Shaggy playfully punched Scooby, to which he crossed his arms.

"Come on guys we're supposed to be meeting Fred and Daphne at the Mystery Machine approximately 4 minutes ago!" A familiar voice called out from behind them. It could be none other than Velma Dinkley with that kind of precision.  
"Hey Velms! Yeah the van is right over there." Shaggy pointed to his left where the gang's van was parked up. "Weird that they aren't there yet huh." Velma rolled her eyes having a pretty good idea where Fred and Daphne would be. Unbeknownst to Fred and Daphne, the rest of the group were fully aware that they had started dating some months earlier despite their efforts to keep it a secret. They were too blind sighted by each other they were useless at being discreet. They would often forget themselves and hold hands on mysteries, before quickly pulling away and acting awkward around the gang. Velma, Shaggy and Scooby often laughed together whenever they saw them act that way. It was sort of a secret between the group divide, with Fred and Daphne thinking their relationship is a secret, and the others pretending they didn't know that they were dating.

"Well, let's get this over with." Shaggy laughed as the three of them arrived at the van. Velma and Scooby tried to muffle their laughs as Shaggy grabbed hold of the door handle for the sliding van door. With a strong pull, the van door moved, revealing Daphne straddling Fred, mid make-out. They quickly pulled away with their mouths forming O's as they knew their 'secret' had been exposed.  
"This isn't what it looks like!" Fred exclaimed as Daphne climbed off his lap, turning a shade of red. The others laughed and shook their heads before Velma spoke. "Guys, you do realise we've known about this for months, right? In fact, you couldn't have been more obvious about it!" Fred and Daphne looked shocked for the second time in the past 2 minutes. "Uh- well I guess we just thought it would be better if you guys didn't know. Yanno for the sake of the group and all." Fred explained, looking at Daphne for confirmation. She nodded, "Yeah we didn't want you guys thinking it would be weird or anything."  
"There's always been an undeniable chemistry between you two. It would be crazy to ignore that." Velma smiled, indicating on behalf of everyone else that their relationship was approved, regardless of the shift in group dynamics that might occur. Scooby licked both Fred and Daphne approvingly. "Well Daph, at least we don't have to try to be subtle about it anymore." Fred commented, making them all laugh at the foolish attempts they already had at making it subtle.

The gang all got into the van in their respective positions, Fred behind the wheel with Daphne sat beside him and Velma beside her. Shaggy and Scooby sat in the back of the van, eating a box of Scooby Snacks as usual. "Summer jobs here we come." Fred groaned, not that he didn't have the work ethic, but that he just wanted to enjoy a carefree summer spent with his girlfriend. It had been a long few months of intense mystery solving, and they could've all used a simple break.

**A/N AGAIN… This chapter is pretty short but I literally just did it in one go and wanted to quickly set it up. I know everyone knows the general plot but as I said I'm probably going to change a hella lot about the movie. Let me know what you think so far I understand its pretty basic at the moment and more is to come.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Gonna keep this short so you can read on. I have a few chapters lined up but I don't want to just upload them all in one go just in case I change my mind on anything. Enjoy!**

"Freddie, where are those directions I sent you to print out?" Daphne looked up at her boyfriend who was suddenly looking flustered. "Don't worry, we're not lost." Fred hardly sounded able to convince himself, never mind the other four. Just 5 minutes later he had turned the Mystery Machine around and went in the opposite direction, no one said anything, but some muffled giggles were definitely heard.

They had been driving for a further 30 minutes after Fred's minor blip in the wrong direction. Shaggy and Scooby had eaten all of their snacks they brought for the journey all ready, typical. Velma had her head in a book, more specifically a book about playing tennis. For the off chance that it might be one of her duties when working at the country club, she had to be well educated on it because that's Velma Dinkley for you. Fred had one hand on the wheel and the other holding on to Daphne's thigh. She was leaning her head against his shoulder and admiring the view up to her Uncle's country club.

They approached what seemed to be a lake, as there were a few boats in the dock. Shaggy peered through the window and exclaimed "Hey look, it's like, the S.S. Daphne!" The others looked to where his eyes were directed towards a boat painted with purples and greens. They all laughed, Daphne included but she playfully hit Shaggy whilst sarcastically commenting "Ha Ha hilarious."  
"Hey Fred, let's stop here and ask for directions." Velma declared and pointed at 'Trowburg's Gas & Goods.' Shaggy and Scooby nervously looked in the direction of Velma's outstretched hand. "Uhhhhh… like that place looks creepy…." Shaggy trailed off to which Scooby nodded in agreement. "Reah!"  
"Come on guys its just a gas station, how creepy can it be?" Fred smirked as he spoke, knowing how jumpy Shaggy and Scooby were about literally everything.

The gang got out of their vehicle and made their way towards the entrance. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Daphne called as they entered and found the desk empty. On cue, an older woman appeared behind the desk, startling the whole gang (especially Shaggy and Scooby). "Hi, I'm Velma, we were wondering if you could point us in the direction of the new country club." The woman's face dropped. "You must turn back! They were fools to ever build on that land. I tried to warn them but they thought I was just some crazy hag!" Ironically, she sounded crazy as she said that very sentence. "Rou? Razy? Ruh roh." Scooby quietly laughed.  
"Mark my words, the lake monster will return! THE LAKE MONSTER WILL RETURN!" The lady warned, pointing her finger. "Ooookay well thanks." Fred said, brushing off the encounter. They left the building disappointed to have received no directions. Shaggy nervously asked "So we are turning back home right gang?" Everyone rolled their eyes in his direction and in that moment he knew, they were not turning back.

Somehow, the gang had managed to navigate their way to Daphne's Uncle Thorny's country club, mainly by asking any passing locals and guessing for the most part. It was probably only 5 minutes or so away from the gas station they had stopped at but they took many wrong turns along the way. Fred drove through a huge gate with a 'TB' on the front. They followed the long driveway into a huge country estate, looking stereotypically like something you would expect from Daphne's family. "Woah this place is impressive Daph!" Fred exclaimed as he parked the Mystery Machine.  
"I didn't expect anything less from Uncle Thorny!"

The gang were walking towards the huge doors of the country club when they were met by a rich looking man in a pristine white suit and expensive sunglasses. "Is that my favourite niece?" he called, clearly recognisable as Daphne ran up and embraced him. "Uncle Thorny! This place is amazing." Daphne said as she moved back towards the gang. "Thank you Daphne. I'm so happy you and your friends are going to be working here this summer." He turned his attention to the rest of the gang members as he spoke. Daphne realised she hadn't yet introduced them and began gesturing to each one in turn. "This is Freddie, Velma, Shaggy and that's Scooby Doo!" Thorny shook each hand in turn and patted Scooby's head when it got to him. "Thanks for giving us these jobs Sir, we really appreciate it." Fred smiled politely, wanting to impress Daphne's uncle.  
"Please, call me Thorny. And its no problem at all Fred, I'm happy to help out my niece and her friends anytime. I've heard lots about you Fred." Thorny winked as he said the last part, knowing it would cause Fred and Daphne to blush. "Uncle Thorny!" Daphne jokingly said. The others giggled at their red faces before Thorny turned serious. "I'll show you to your rooms to let you get settled and have a good night sleep. Your shifts start at 6am sharp!" Shaggy groaned at this, he had not expected it to start so early.

After receiving three keys to three bedrooms, the gang headed to the second floor to check them out. Two of the bedrooms were on the same side, the other opposite. "Like, why did Thorny give us three keys?" Shaggy asked looking confused.  
"I was wondering the same. Don't we usually have the guys in one room and Daphne and I in the other?" Velma added to which Daphne had a smile plastered on her face.  
"Well…" She began and looked at Fred who had suddenly realised and cheekily smiled. "I asked Uncle Thorny for an extra room for Fred and I. You know if we're going to be busy working so much then I figured we could spend time together after our shifts. You know like watching movies or something." She added the last part in when she realised the suspiciously raised eyebrow from Velma. "Whatever you say Daphne!" Velma chuckled before taking a key off Daphne and checking out her room. That was one perk of Daphne's plan, Velma now had a room to herself which she liked. It meant she was free to read or work on projects without being disturbed. Shaggy and Scooby also took a key to check out their rooms too, leaving Fred and Daphne to check out theirs, of course being the one room across from the others.


	3. Chapter 3

Daphne opened the door to the large bedroom she would be sharing with Fred. She took his hand as the two of them entered and she had to admit, it was perfect. Everything was so clean, given that it hadn't been used before and everything was either grey or white, albeit subtle, purple things such as cushions and a few statement pieces. The colour purple definitely run in the family. "Daph this is great. I can't believe your uncle agreed to let us share a room all summer!" Fred smiled as he spoke and pulled her in for a soft kiss. "Well he knows we can't really spend much time alone just hanging out because of school, mysteries and our parents being home quite often. Plus, Uncle Thorny has always been the cool family member." The two kissed again, this time deeper as Fred placed his arms around her waist, pulling her closer as their mouths moved in rhythm. "You know we have some time before we meet the others for dinner…" Fred trailed off whilst leaving a trail of kisses down her neck. Daphne's eyes briefly closed as she allowed him to continue.

Meanwhile, in her room, Velma was busy reading a book about myths in Erie Pointe. The place that the country club was in, the place they had been warned about a lake monster. Naturally, Velma had taken it upon herself to educate herself on the area just in case there was any truth in what the crazy lady at the gas station had said.

Next door, Shaggy and Scooby had tuned into the TV, watching a Vincent Van Ghoul movie whilst nearing the end of a share bag of Doritos. "Like Scoob.." Shaggy began nervously. "What do you think of the whole dating thing?" Scooby furrowed his bushy eyebrows at his best friend wondering where exactly this was going. "Ruh Ri don't row."  
"Like Fred and Daphne are pretty good together, even before we knew they were dating they had something cool going on." Shaggy was thinking about all the times Fred had saved Daphne on their mysteries and the looks they gave each other ever since they all met in detention that day. "Ri don't runderstand rhat you mean Raggy."  
"I'm just saying Scoob, its something exciting like having that special someone you can share everything with." Shaggy looked deep in thought as he spoke. Scooby was just clueless about the situation as he had never known Shaggy to speak about something like this. "Rou have me Raggy, we ralways share food." Shaggy smiled at Scooby, his intentions were nice but he clearly wasn't understanding the hint. Shaggy had been thinking about him and Velma for a couple of weeks now, but since today when Daphne and Fred were publicly acting like a couple it had got him thinking deeper. Shaggy decided to just leave the conversation there for now. Maybe Scooby wasn't the best person to try to have this conversation with. He decided to talk to Fred whenever they had any free time just the two of them.

Fred rolled over, groaning as the sound from his iPhone pounded on the table next to the bed. He saw it was Velma's caller ID and quickly answered the call. "Hi Velms, what's up?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "What are you guys doing! We're outside your room waiting to go for dinner. You know like we arranged?" Fred detected the annoyance in her voice in the last sentence. He looked at the clock across the room and saw that it was 6:50pm. They had decided to meet outside of their bedrooms at 6:45 and eat at 7pm. Fred panicked "We'll be right there!" he didn't wait for a response and hung up the phone. He turned back to where he had been spooning Daphne and began shaking her lightly. "Daph. Daphne wake up! We're really late for dinner Velma just called and they're outside." They hadn't meant to fall asleep after they had sex but after their long drive they had become too exhausted to stay awake. Daphne bolted up after Fred had spoken. "OH NO! I don't have time to shower!" Fred rolled his eyes before they hurried around trying to find some clothes.

A few minutes later they opened their door to find Velma with her arms folded, Shaggy tapping his foot and Scooby laying on the carpet. "It's like, about time." Shaggy impatiently said.  
"What took you guys so long!" Velma was also evidently still annoyed but Daphne shot her an 'I'll explain later look' and they just headed to the country club restaurant to have dinner.

Nothing interesting happened at dinner. The gang had a nice time enjoying a night of relaxing and just being teenagers without the worries of school or mysteries, just generally enjoying each other's company. They went to bed early to prepare themselves for their first day of work. The first of many that summer. They had to earn the money to pay back Old Man Frickert's farm somehow, after burning down the barn!


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, the gang's shifts were in full swing. Fred and Shaggy were caddying when Shaggy realised this was the perfect opportunity to ask for some advice. "Fred, can I ask you something?" Fred looked surprised because Shaggy sounded serious and nervous all of a sudden. "Sure, you can always ask me anything buddy." He patted Shaggy on the back as he spoke. Shaggy cleared his throat. "What you and Daph have… is that something you would recommend?" Fred laughed at his wording. "What do you mean Shag?"  
"Well like going from having a girl-friend to having a girlfriend."  
Fred thought about it for a second. "You know what, yeah I guess I would recommend it. Daph and I are pretty good together. What makes you ask?"  
Shaggy shifted uncomfortably before replying "I was sort of wondering whether I should like ask Velma on a date. Ive been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now." Fred beamed at him, seemingly surprised. "Woah that's great man! I mean I didn't expect it but yeah you totally should if that's how you feel."  
"Like thanks man, I knew coming to you would help."

Meanwhile, Daphne and Velma were taking a well-earned break from waitressing poolside. They decided to sit on one of the balconies with a cold drink which looked over the golf course. Fred and Shaggy were in eyeshot, still quite a distance away. Velma caught Daphne's eye looking at Fred. "Daphne, can I ask you something?" she asked. Daphne turned to her friend and nodded. "What's it like, you know, having Fred as your boyfriend." Daphne hesitated, thinking about what her response would be. "It's great. We just have that spark that gives me butterflies and makes me nervous…" Daphne seemed to be in a trance thinking about all the times she and Fred had shared. Velma snapped her fingers in Daphne's face. "Daph, how far have you and Fred gone?" Velma didn't know if she asked something too personal, but they were best friends after all. Daphne slightly blushed knowing this was the time for her to explain herself. "I know what you're thinking Velms, and yes that is exactly why we were almost late for dinner last night. We fell asleep just after we did it." Velma's eyes widened; she had expected as much but hearing it come from Daphne directly surprised her for some reason. "That was the first time you did it?" she asked. Daphne shook her head no. "Velma we've done it quite a few times you know." She laughed at Velma's face. "We've been dating for… something like 5 months its normal." Daphne explained, but she knew they had also slept together on a few occasions before they decided to officially date. "Wow, having that much trust in someone in that way is pretty terrifying." Velma said. She wasn't afraid of committing to someone that way but the act itself scared Velma. She felt like it wasn't something she could read up on and everything go according to plan. "Well when you do it with someone you love it makes it a lot more natural." Daphne suddenly shut her mouth realising what she had just said, especially considering her and Fred hadn't even said the words to each other yet.  
"You love Fred, Daphne?" Velma asked, she figured as much even before Daphne had accidentally exposed herself. Daphne had always had a thing for Fred, and vice versa. It was only natural that you could fall in love so fast when being close friends before. "Yeah Velms, I do."

After the gang finished their shifts, they all met up with Scooby who had been hanging around the pool all day. As Fred and Shaggy approached, Fred went right over to Daphne and planted a kiss on her lips. "Hey babe, how was work?" he asked, placing an arm around her waist. Scooby pretended to puke, causing Shaggy and Velma to stifle a laugh. "It was good thanks, how about you?" Daphne kissed him again after answering. "Me and Shag had a fun time driving the golf carts!" Daphne rolled her eyes, of course he enjoyed driving around in a golf cart all day. Shaggy couldn't help but stare at the two of them, longing for him to have that with Velma. Fred picked up on this and knew he had to help Shaggy out. "Hey Daph, do you want to go for a swim?" Daphne didn't even respond, just grabbed his hand and took off to get changed into their swim wear, leaving Velma, Shaggy and Scooby looking dumbfounded. "I'm going to go for a stroll along the beach." Velma declared, Scooby was distracted by a distant smell of food and decided to go and check it out. Perfect for Shaggy. "Like do you mind if I tag along?" He asked, with a big and goofy grin across his face. Velma smiled and said "Of course! The company will be nice."

Velma and Shaggy arrived at the beach and were walking slowly around, admiring the views and all it had to offer. Shaggy was dropping subtle hints about dating and couples and if she was listening, it would've been obvious to tell that he liked Velma. However, Velma was too wrapped up in the cave entrance that stood before her. She knelt to the ground upon noticing something in the sand. "Wow Velms what is that?" Shaggy asked, standing above her. Velma picked up the shiny blue looking gemstone and held it up so it glistened in the sun. "A moonstone." She spoke softly, recalling the mention of moonstones in the book she had read the previous night. "Sure is pretty looking." Shaggy said, but he was looking at Velma and not the moonstone. Again, Velma wasn't paying attention, but this time because she had started feeling nauseous. She stumbled when trying to walk. "Velms you don't look so good." As soon as he spoke, Velma turned to the side and instantly threw up. "I should go and lay down." Without a chance to reply, Shaggy was standing alone as Velma took off.


	5. Chapter 5

"Cut it out Freddie!" Daphne screamed lovingly as Fred pretended to untie her bikini top. She splashed him away from her, making Fred laugh. "Okay, okay I'll stop. If I get a kiss." Daphne rolled her eyes but proceeded to pull her closer to him. She leaned against the side of the pool and wrapped her legs around Fred's waist, pulling him in for a long kiss. The kiss turned as deep as the one in the Mystery Machine the previous day, when Shaggy had exposed them. They broke away after being interrupted, again by Shaggy. "Oh hey Shaggy. Where's Velma?" Daphne asked, noticing he had come alone. "We were on the beach and she suddenly got sick and went to bed." He seemed sad as he spoke. Fred sympathised for him. During their time in the pool he had told Daphne about Shaggy asking for advice on Velma, she thought it was sweet. "Maybe we should check on her." Daphne said, hauling herself out of the pool, leaving Fred to smirk as he watched. Daphne noticed and kicked some water in his face as he was about to follow. "Hey!"

Shaggy had found Scooby on their way to the rooms and had quickly checked on Velma. She had told them she just needed to rest and would see them the next day for work. They had plans to join Thorny for the opening party that night but Velma didn't seem to mind missing out. "I guess we should get ready for the party then." Fred said and the remaining members of the group agreed.

About an hour later, the gang minus Velma were enjoying the opening party. Fred and Daphne were sharing a drink with two straws, staring lovingly into each other's eyes and Shaggy and Scooby looked like they were doing the same but with food and platonically. The atmosphere was nice, a lot of people seemed to be enjoying themselves and the live band. However, it became clear that it was short-lived. All of a sudden, the lights went out and the band stopped playing. A shadowed figure appeared behind the large white curtains, looking like a huge, oversized frog. But that would be impossible. Everything went eerily quiet, all the guests frozen with fear on what was to come. Without warning, the frog-like creature bounded in and began destroying everything in sight; the bands' instruments, tables, chairs flying everywhere. Guests ran away as fast as they could whilst trying to dodge the objects in the air. Scooby and Shaggy had took to hiding behind the buffet which was untouched by the creature. Fred grabbed Daphne's hand and ran behind a table in the corner. They waited for an opportunity to escape but the creature wasn't backing down. With most of the guests fighting their way out of the door, the creature turned it's attention towards Fred and Daphne, picking up the table they were hiding behind. They quickly jumped to their feet and Fred stood protectively in front of Daphne. The creature was about to grab them when all of a sudden, a whirling plate of what looked like spaghetti hit it in the head. It angrily turned around to where Shaggy and Scooby were firing plates of food as a distraction. "Like run guys!" Shaggy screamed, running out after throwing one last place. "ROKAY." Scooby wasted no time zooming out of the door. The creature was left dumbfounded on the floor holding it's head in pain.

Once outside, the gang literally ran into Thorny, knocking him to the ground. "Woah sorry about that Thorny!" Fred exclaimed, offering his arm to the older man. He accepted and climbed up, dusting his suit down with his hands. "Don't worry about it Fred. I'm glad you're all okay. I wish I could say the same for my business." Throny gestured towards the angry and fearful guests leaving. "Almost half of the guests just cancelled their membership. The country club is doomed thanks to the freaky frog." Fred and Daphne exchanged glances, Shaggy knew what this meant and he hit himself on the forehead. "Don't worry Uncle Thorny, leave it to Mystery Inc!"


	6. Chapter 6

After the events of the previous night, the gang hadn't had much sleep and were up early. After agreeing to solve the mystery, Thorny had told the gang they could just work a couple hours a day at the country club, considering the number of guests had been dramatically halved, so they had a while until they were needed for a shift. Fred was showering and Daphne had just gotten dressed. Shaggy, Scooby and Velma had knocked on the door and she let them in. Shaggy had filled Velma in on the nights events and they wanted to have a discussion about it before work. Fred emerged from the shower and came out wearing his shorts for the day, but no shirt and a towel around his shoulders. His hair was still damp, Daphne couldn't help but admire him.

"So we should arrange where to investigate first to solve this mystery." Fred suggested, putting on a white polo shirt. "I did a little research before I came over. It looks like the only known person to have photographed the lake monster is a man named Elmer Uggins." Velma explained, pulling up the details of the man on her trusty laptop. "Sounds good Velms, we also need to check out if there was any camera footage of the attack last night." Fred added, suddenly remembering that due to the expensive country club, it was likely many cameras covered the grounds. "I'll be right back." Daphne quietly said as she jumped up and dashed into the bathroom. Everyone looked in her direction confused, and Fred got up and knocked on the closed bathroom door.  
"Daph are you okay?" he called. After a few seconds of silence she replied. "Yeah I'm fine."  
"You don't sound fine Daph. Let me in." he pleaded after trying the door and finding it was locked. He heard the sound of retching coming from inside. After a few moments, she opened the door looking pale. "Babe is everything ok?" Fred asked again. Daphne went over to their king sized bed and lay down. "I'll be fine I just need a minute. I was just a little sick that's all." The other three made their way over to be closer to the bed, as the room was so big that they were sat at the table by the window at the other side and wanted to check Daphne was okay.

"Like Velma threw up yesterday at the beach, there must be something going around." Shaggy offered explanation and Velma agreed. Fred sat down next to Daphne and kissed her forehead. "Do you want some breakfast?" he asked.  
"Reah, reah rets go!" Scooby excitedly exclaimed.  
"Scoob I was talking to Daphne." Fred said, and couldn't help but smirk at the Great Dane.  
"You guys go for breakfast I'll be fine here." Daphne ushered the others to go which eventually they agreed to. Velma however, insisted on staying with Daphne.

"Why don't you want any breakfast Velms?" Daphne asked, taking a sip of water that Fred gave her before he left with the guys. "I'm not hungry. Plus Daph, I don't think your throwing up is the same reason as mine." Velma took a seat on the bed next to her redhaired friend.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well I realised, you said you and Fred had been… you know…. Doing it." Velma was quite shy when it came to talking about sex so she felt awkward trying to explain it. Daphne nodded, not really knowing her point. "Well did you use protection?" Daphne realised now what she was getting at. "Yeah of course we did!"  
"Every single time?" Velma asked trying to make sure nothing was forgotten. Daphne thought long and hard about it. She and Fred weren't stupid, they knew the risks and knew to use protection every time so she couldn't recall a time when they didn't. "Yeah Velms I can't remember a time where we didn't-" Suddenly it hit Daphne like a kick in the teeth. She flashbacked to one of their cases around 2 months ago.

_The gang stood in the hallway of a local high school where there had been reports of a vampire terrorising the students. It was night, the school was empty aside from the gang and they had decided to search for clues.  
"Velma, Shaggy and Scooby you go that way. Daph, you and I will go this way." Fred explained. "Call us if you need us okay?" The gang nodded in agreement to the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc and went their separate ways._

_Daphne tugged Fred's arm and laughed "Freddie you are so obvious you know. You can't pair us off alone every time, they're bound to catch on!"  
"I know I'm sorry but I thought since we haven't really had any alone time in like two weeks we could…" Fred began, pulling her against one of the rows of lockers and kissing her neck, up to behind her ear. Daphne got goosebumps under his touch. This wasn't the first time they were up to no good when they were supposed to be looking for clues, but they had never gone the whole way during a mystery, only when they had sneaked out of their house and met up. Daphne knew what Fred was suggesting and they found one of the classrooms unlocked. Fred pulled her inside, instantly picking her up. She responded by putting her legs around his waste and kissing him passionately, running her hands through his jet black hair. _

_All of a sudden, they were pressed against the teacher's desk, Daphne sitting on it and Fred standing. It wouldn't be so tricky considering Daphne was wearing a skirt…._

Velma snapped her fingers in front of Daphne's face. "Daph, hellooooo!" Daphne snapped back into the present and realised she had drifted off. "Oh my God Velma. You're right. When we were hunting down the Vampire, you know the one who turned out to be the gym coach. Freddie paired us off and we… well we you know. But we didn't have any protection with us. We just got lost in the moment and I-I said I'd take the morning after pill Velma but with that whole case being so hectic I guess I forgot!" Daphne suddenly started panicking and a few tears rolled down her face. Velma pulled her into a tight, friendly hug. "It's okay Daph, we don't know for sure yet okay! We have to get you a test."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: You'll probably notice that some of the events are being mixed up just because I'm writing it in a certain way so it will flow how I want it to. I have a rough idea of every chapter but I'm just kind of going with the flow of where my mind takes me. Of course I had to get a lot of Fraphne in this story and I've always liked the fanfics where Daphne ends up pregnant so I had to throw it in… enjoy the chapter.**

The guys returned from having breakfast and agreed to go and check the camera footage as a starting point. Velma sat on the only chair, in front of all the monitors. "Right there!" Fred exclaimed as on one of the screens, the frog creature appeared. Velma clicked on the image and brought it full screen. They watched in anticipation. All of a sudden, the frog creature came face to face with someone in a dark robe. "Like the frog creature isn't working alone!" Shaggy exclaimed.  
"Hang on a minute, look." Daphne started. The gang watched on. "The hooded person looks like they're in control of the creature!"  
"Hey I bet if you pause when the head turns and zoom in, we might be able to see who the person is!" Fred suggested excitedly at the thought of solving the mystery so quickly. Velma clicked a few times and slowly the image was becoming more visible.

All of a sudden, the monitor blew up and caused blank screens across the whole system. "Ruh roh. Rhis monster ris rinside the computer!" Scooby said, cowering in fear behind Shaggy.  
"No Scooby, that's all my fault!" Velma cried looking down at her spilled green tea. She looked upset at the thought of hindering the investigation. "Don't worry Velms, I'm sure we'll find way more evidence that will lead us closer!" Shaggy encouraged, because he wanted to make her feel better and also he hoped she would realise his interest in her. "Thanks Shaggy but I think I'll be more help if I do my own research so I can't ruin anything else." The gang tried to plead with Velma to stay, and that they weren't mad but she seemed so down about it they didn't want to pressure her.

The four of them decided to go and check out Elmer Uggins and see if he had any information for them. As he was the lighthouse keeper, they had to return to the very beach that Shaggy and Velma had been at the previous day. As they were making their way across the beach Fred abruptly stopped and put his arms out to stop everyone. "What is it Freddie?" Daphne asked, holding onto him. "Look!" He pointed towards a cave where the frog creature was digging in the sand. "Let's get him!" Before anyone could take in what was happening, Fred had charged right at the monster. His bravery was one of the many things she loved about him, but Daphne couldn't believe how quickly he had lunged at the creature. The others rushed over to where Fred had tackled down the frog creature. Shaggy pulled his head, to reveal it was a mask and they found none other than Elmer Uggins inside! "What?" Shaggy questioned.

Later, inside the Mr Uggins' home he was explaining to the gang why exactly he was dressed as the creature. "I just wanted to make a quick buck, but I assure you that was not me who attacked the country club last night! My costume is no where near as realistic as that one." After some persuading, the gang had finally believed him. That was, only after they agreed to believe him if he told them all the information he had about the frog creature and the creepy cloaked figure. "It all started at the very beginning of the town." Mr Uggins began, sitting down with his coffee at the table surrounded by the four members of Mystery Inc, each wishing Velma was here to hear everything. "when the first settlers arrived in these parts, they were confronted by an old woman who was said to have lived in a cave by the lake. Her name was Wanda Grubwort. She claimed all of the land around the tale. If the settlers didn't turn back, they would pay the price." Scooby shuddered underneath the table, spilling some of Uggins' coffee. "Interesting." Fred commented, waiting for him to continue. "The early pioneers didn't turn away so easily. They ignored her warning but Wanda Grubwort didn't forget and one day she fulfilled her dark oath. She used her magic staff to cast a spell on an innocent creature of the lake and transformed it into a hideous beast."  
"Like, the frog creature." Shaggy added, shaking slightly. Uggins nodded before proceeding.  
"The creature became Wanda's slave and used it on the innocent villagers. It was said that they eventually overcame Grubwort and burned her at the stake for witchery. You young ones need to leave at once, while you still can." The gang seemed taken aback by the story, but believed Uggins. They took off shortly after and headed back to the country club.

When they arrived back, they found Velma sitting by the pool with a cola. "Hey Velms, you feeling better?" Shaggy asked, taking a seat beside her.  
"Better than I was yeah. We should probably get to work, it's only a quick two-hour shift then we can regroup later to see where we go from here." The gang smiled at Velma's returned enthusiasm for the mystery. They split up their separate ways again, Fred and Shaggy off to the golf course and Velma and Daphne to waitress.


	8. Chapter 8

"Wow that shift was exhausting! How people can drink that much I have no idea." Daphne said, plopping herself down on her and Velma's usual seats on the balcony that they chatted at the previous day. "Tell me about it. So how are you feeling Daphne?"  
"Velma… I took the test." Velma looked at her in shock.  
"What? When?"  
"When we came back from seeing Uggins.." Velma had again been briefed on the findings during her absence. Daphne continued "Well just before we started our shift I dipped out for ten minutes, there's a pharmacy not far from here. I took it when I went to the bathroom mid shift."  
"And?" Velma sensed the suspense growing inside of her as she noticed Daphne's mood change.  
"Velma… its positive." Daphne broke down in across from her, as she had to return to work after taking the test she hadn't had time to let it sink in. "Daphne!" Velma had no idea what to say so she just hugged her again and rubbed her back. "We can get through this okay. When are you going to tell Fred?"  
"I haven't even thought about that yet. Velms I still haven't told him that I love him. I was going to last night at the party but then you know, frog creature ruined it."  
"Why don't you do it now? I see Shaggy about to coming up the stairs so Fred shouldn't be long after him." Daphne thought about what Velma said before realising she had to do it. It would make breaking the pregnancy news to him easier, though she had no intentions of doing that in the next few days. "You know what Velma, I will!" Daphne declared, feeling proud of herself.

"Hey guys, like how was work?" Shaggy asked when he arrived on the balcony and took a seat. They shared shift stories briefly before Daphne asked where Fred was. "Oh he's on the green putting with some girls." Velma and Daphne angrily exchanged glances. Daphne stormed off to where she could see Fred with one arm on a golf club and one arm on a blonde girl, helping her putt the ball.  
"Okay I'll see you some other time girls, take care." Fred smiled waving the two, slightly older girls off. He arrived to Daphne, finding her with a stern look on her face and crossed arms. "Uh oh." Velma stated as she and Shaggy watched the scene from above. "Hey Daph!" Fred planted a small kiss on her lips but she lightly pushed him back. "What's wrong?" he asked cluelessly.  
"Oh I don't know Fred, why don't you ask the blonde girl you were holding." Daphne turned around and started walking back up the stairs. Fred groaned and rolled his eyes, and even though she wasn't looking, Daphne knew exactly what he was doing. "Daph come on, it's part of my job to show people how to putt." A weak excuse she thought, but she was too preoccupied with other problems to argue with him. She resumed her seat with Shaggy and Velma and now Scooby who had joined them.

The tension was in the air as the whole gang sat around the table. Shaggy had been trailing off thinking about Velma and decided that now was the time to ask her on a date. It would break the awkwardness, hopefully, and the thoughts were consuming him so much he thought if he did it now it would fit in perfectly with their free evening. "So Velms… I was thinking if you would- if I could take you on a date this evening. Just you and me at the restaurant?" Fred's eyes widened in shock, he was proud of his friend and patted him on the back for his bravery. Scooby pouted at this development, secretly hoping Velma would say no just so he could have a movie marathon with Shaggy instead. "Me and you? A date? A romantic, more than friends date?" Velma was taken aback, not expecting this from Shaggy whatsoever. "Like… yeah. If you want to." Velma contemplated it for a moment. Why now? Why all of a sudden after being friends for so long would Shaggy now want to take her out romantically? She had always found Shaggy attractive and she loved him, as a friend but could she love him more than a friend? "You know what Shaggy, I will go on a date with you." She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Like really? I mean, ahem, I'll pick you up at 7." With that he walked off with Scooby trailing behind. Daphne and Fred both smiled at Velma who turned a shade of crimson.

Everyone went to their respective rooms, to get changed for their plans for the night. For Shaggy and Velma, a date, for Scooby, nothing but a movie marathon and for Fred and Daphne… well.

"I just don't understand why you won't talk to me." Fred said, raising his voice towards the end. Daphne turned around and gave him a death stare. What could she say? She was carrying his baby and he was blatantly flirting with some random blonde chick. Yeah sure he didn't know about the baby but nevertheless, they were in a serious relationship, so she thought, which meant eyes on Daphne and only Daphne. "You had your hands all over her Fred." She spoke sternly, looking him right in the eye. "I was helping her putt." He replied in the exact same manner. Daphne shook her head and without another word she just walked out of the room leaving Fred watching after her.

Meanwhile across the hall, Shaggy had put on a brown blazer and tow tie to his usual outfit to make it appear more formal, so he thought. Scooby looked at him disapprovingly, he loved Velma but he didn't want her to take up all of Shaggy's attention. "Like, how do I look Scoob?" Shaggy asked, patting down his shirt. Scooby looked him up and down and sighed. "Rike a ridiot."  
"Gee thanks buddy." Shaggy replied, sarcastically and annoyed that his best friend was being so unsupportive of his first ever date. "Will you please accept that this is what I wanna do Scoob. It won't change anything between us I promise." He said as he began the scouts honour. Scooby sighed again, this time less angry "Rokay ri suppose. Rood luck with Velma." With that he licked Shaggy's cheek and left to watch TV and order room service.

Shaggy knocked on Velma's door, only seconds passed before she had opened it and stepped out to join him. Velma had her usual style orange turtleneck on, but this time in dress form, and faintly orange tights. "Like Velms, you look awesome!" Shaggy nervously spoke, making Velma blush.  
"Thanks Shaggy, not so bad yourself. Now lets go."


	9. Chapter 9

Fred stood in the mirror after he had changed into some running gear. Whenever he was stressed, sad, angry, running was always the answer. Plus, he figured he could try to find Daphne on his run. He grabbed a pair of earphones and headed outside to run around the club, considering it had such big grounds.

Not too far away, at the tennis courts, Daphne sat on a bench alone watching some guys play. Her eyes were fixated on the ball as it was hit from side to side, she didn't notice the tears in her eyes until one, then two rolled down her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped them away using the sleeve of her jacket. Her original plan was to ask the guys if she could join in the tennis match, hoping that Fred would find her and get jealous. However, she had decided against this. _I need to stop thinking so immature, I have to do some growing up now _she thought to herself.

"Daphne?" A voice called from behind her. She turned around, for some reason hoping it was Fred because despite being so mad at him, he was the one she wanted to comfort her. She wiped her eyes one last time and turned around to find her Uncle Thorny which took her by surprise. "Oh hey Uncle Thorny, what's up?" he walked over and sat on the bench next to her.  
"Nothing, but there's something up with you. Is everything ok?" He could tell she had been crying despite her efforts to wipe away the evidence. "Really? No it isn't." She wanted to tell him why but she knew she wanted other people to know before him, like her parents and Fred. "Tell me. If you want to. I understand we aren't as close as we should be but I am here for you Daphne." He pulled her into a hug. "Thanks Uncle Thorny but I'll be okay." She smiled gratefully at her uncle. He had always been kind to her despite not seeing her that often due to living a while away from Coolsville and being so busy. "Why don't you find your friends and do something fun? Cheer yourself up a little." Daphne nodded and after a final hug and thanks, Thorny left. Daphne decided to see who won the match, as she knew everyone else was probably busy anyway.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" A waiter asked Shaggy and Velma as they sat at a table in the country club restaurant, opposite each other. "Could I just have a water please." Velma asked, followed by Shaggy asking for a cola. The waiter smiled and left. "I'm really glad you agreed to go on a date with me V."  
"I'm glad I came Shaggy." Moments later a waiter returned with the drinks, but when Shaggy looked up he realised that it was actually Scooby dressed like one. Luckily, Velma was in the middle of cleaning her glasses and hadn't noticed yet. Shaggy mouthed for Scooby to 'get the heck out' but he ignored him and smiled deviously. He carefully placed down the drinks for Velma and Shaggy, before holding out a match to light the candles on the table. Unbeknownst to Shaggy, Scooby was actually here to give his seal of approval, he wanted to help make the evening romantic, hence his devious smile. Velma had just returned her glasses to her face when Scooby lit the match. As the fire emerged from the match Velma jumped back and ran away from the restaurant, leaving Shaggy and Scooby confused. "Like why did you have to come here and ruin everything!" Shaggy yelled at Scooby, upsetting him.  
"Rut Raggy Ri came to relp!" He tried to defend but Shaggy was upset by Velma's sudden change of heart and ignored him. Scooby fled the scene, blaming himself.

A few moments later Shaggy was leaving the restaurant when Fred jogged over to him.  
"Hey Shag, how'd the date go?" he asked, expecting the answer to be something on the lines of good. "Uh- it started off good then Scoob came and ruined everything." He looked down to the ground as he spoke. "Oh, I'm so sorry man. Maybe you could try again sometime. If it makes you feel any better, Daph is mad at me so I guess we're both bad with women." Fred said, half-jokingly. Shaggy managed a small smile. "How about we go try to find them?" Fred suggested and despite Shaggy not wanting to approach Velma just yet, he thought he could help find Daphne. As they were about to walk away, Shaggy stopped. "Uh like, I think we have other plans Fred…" They both froze as they saw the frog creature stood before them. "RUN!" Fred yelled. Both of them ran around the restaurant, the creature keeping a close distance behind them. "Fred over there!" Shaggy pointed at the row of golf carts across from them. They jumped in the first one and started driving around the country club, desperate to get away from the creature, who was surprisingly fast, still keeping up with them despite being on foot. They neared the tennis courts and saw Daphne walking into their route. "Daphne look out!" Shaggy yelled, but Fred hit the breaks before they got too close.  
"Daph look, I know you're mad but please get on! The frog creature is right behind us!" Fred practically begged, to which Daphne looked behind them and saw the beast coming up close. She didn't hesitate and jumped on the back of the cart.

Around 5 minutes later they managed to lose the creature and parked the golf cart as close to the entrance as they could. "We should get some sleep, we're gonna need a lot of investigating tomorrow." Fred said, with the other two nodding. They all started walking to their rooms, but Fred didn't expect Daphne to be knocking on Velma's door. "Daph what are you doing?" She didn't look at him when she responded. "I'm gonna sleep in Velma's room tonight."  
"Seriously? Daphne you're blowing this way out of proportion what's gotten into you?" Fred sounded pissed at her, which only irked her more. How could he accuse her of blowing it out of proportion? It took everything she had not to reply by screaming at him, she knew she needed to calm down and being in the same room as him wouldn't help. She agreed with herself that she would talk to him tomorrow, after sleeping on it.

Once in Velma's room, Daphne was surprised to see it was messy. Velma kept everything in check, always, no exceptions. She glanced around to find books everywhere, mostly to do with Erie Pointe. She knew Velma had to know everything about everywhere and everything whenever they travelled and this was no exception. "Sorry about the mess Daph, I guess I just got carried away and I've felt sick and all so haven't had the chance to tidy it up."  
"Don't worry about it."

They sat in silence for a while, each on a separate bed. "Daphne I'm sorry about what Fred did, but don't you think he was just doing his job or at least, you know, being friendly." Velma asked, wanting to break the ice and also wondering if Daphne knew sometimes Fred was just plain clueless.  
"I don't know Velms. But it really hurt to see." They talked a little about the situation but Daphne wasn't in the mood for going into it, so they decided to just sleep for the night.

Around 3am, Daphne heard the sound of a door closing, briefly fluttering her eyelids. She was exhausted so didn't take much notice of her surroundings. She fell back asleep shortly after. Little did she know that the bed beside her had become vacant…

**A/N Hey, thanks for whoever has taken the time to read the story so far. Don't forget to leave a review so I know how I'm doing! Thanks to whoever reviewed already, really appreciate the feedback.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey guys thanks for the reviews, its good to know its being enjoyed. I just wrote this for fun because I started rewatching old SD stuff so its good that other people are taking the time to read it.**

Daphne woke up and saw the time on her phone was 8am. She rolled over to her side, expecting to see Velma to her left. "Huh?" she said out loud, as she realised Velma was no where to be seen. She stood up and headed next door, figuring maybe she had gone to talk with Shaggy.

"Like no Daph, I haven't seen her since she ditched me on our date last night." Shaggy seemed sad as he spoke. Velma hadn't mentioned anything about the date now that she thought about it. "She ditched you?"  
"Well yeah I think it was because Scoob showed up. I guess he didn't want Velma and I going out."  
"I think we should go and look for her Shag, I'm really worried." Shaggy went inside and told Scooby, Daphne went across and got Fred, still only speaking to him on a work basis.

"Okay this is the last place I can think of her being at." Shaggy said as they approached the beach.  
"Uh guys… look." Fred pointed at a body laying against a rock in the distance.  
"VELMA!" Shaggy shrieked and bounded over to her, Scooby ran ahead too, still feeling bad about the situation from last night. "Is she… is she… dead?" Daphne asked when they were gathered around her. "No, look she's breathing." Fred leaned down, giving her a quick shake. Her eyes suddenly opened, scaring him a bit which caused him to fall back. "Velma, thank god you're okay! Why are you here?" Daphne asked, pulling her up and hugging her. Fred got up himself and dusted off the sand. Velma looked around dazed. "I erm… I don't remember. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep and I guess I ended up here."  
"So that's what the noise was that woke me up, you leaving." Daphne said, having realising what had happened at 3am. "V, what's up with your hand?" Shaggy asked whilst freaking out at the sight. Everyone looked to find that Velma's hand and forearm were covered in warts. "Oh no… it looks like some kind of reaction." She panicked, looking at them individually.  
"Maybe you should get some more rest Velms, and maybe some anti-allergy meds." Fred suggested, patting her back. "Yeah I think that's a good idea." As the group began walking back to the country club, something caught Daphne's eye. Towards the cave that Shaggy and Velma had found the moonstone, was a cloak that had been discarded. The gang were too engrossed in helping Velma to her room so Daphne headed over to it. "What on earth…" The cloak had a smear of purple paint across it. "The S.S. Daphne!" she declared, then remembered she was talking to herself. _This has to be a clue!_

Later on, Velma was tucked up into bed, with each member of the gang checking on her when they could. She seemed to be sleeping fine, probably tired from the walking around in the middle of the night. The gang had a 3-hour shift to do, but Daphne had to tell Thorny about what happened to Velma and they agreed she was in so fit state to work. Thorny had Daphne helping him clear up the mess from when the creature ruined the party as it had still not been completely dealt with. Fred and Shaggy were on lifeguard duty at the country club pool, the first time they were doing so. Shaggy enjoyed this role, feeling empowered by having everyone's life in his hands and wanting to make sure he did it perfectly. A few girls had tried to blatantly flirt with Fred but his mind was elsewhere. He didn't want to upset Daphne again, even though he didn't think he did anything wrong, but also he knew he wasn't interested in anyone else.

"Daphne, why don't you take off early." Thorny suggested, giving her special treatment because she was his niece after all. "Thanks." Daphne was about to walk away when she stopped. "We are going to stop this creature you know Uncle Thorny." He smiled at her, appreciating her and the gang's help. "I know Daphne, thanks."

Daphne made her way to the pool to find Shaggy and Fred and suggest that they investigate the S.S. Daphne. Her stomach turned as she got close, upon seeing Fred hugging the same blonde girl from the previous day. He hadn't noticed Daphne yet, so she used this opportunity to watch. "Well if you see anything else just text me and thanks." Fred said, pulling away from the hug. Daphne couldn't believe her eyes or ears at the scene before her. As the blonde, perfect figured girl in a lime green bikini walked away, Fred finally noticed Daphne standing across from him, a distance away but close enough to hear. He looked panicked, not guilty, but worried that she was about to read into something the wrong way. "Daph-" she cut him off before he could even begin.  
"Don't speak to me." She turned around and ran away, her eyes filling up as she did. Shaggy and Scooby had watched the entire thing from where they were standing. "Like Fred, I think you should go after her." Scooby nodded in agreement.  
"What's the point? She didn't listen to me yesterday, she definitely won't about this." Fred looked deflated as he spoke, knowing Daphne, him trying to talk to her right now would make things worse.

Fred, Shaggy and Scooby had been hanging out in one of the café's in the complex for about an hour. Fred had wanted to make himself scarce as though to not further upset Daphne. After finishing his second and final coffee, Fred suggested the three of them return to their rooms to sort out the plan for the night.

Daphne had been talking to Velma about what she saw, and even Velma had to admit that it was weird. Daphne had since left Velma and gone to the room she was sharing with Fred, but he hadn't come back yet. She left because Velma said she was tired again having only been awake for an hour or so. Daphne thought this was weird, Velma had been absent for almost the entire mystery which was very unlike her. She was worried about her health as she seemed really unwell. Daphne was pulled away from her thoughts as she heard the door to the room opening. Daphne had used a spare key so she knew it was Fred with the original one. He slowly opened the door which revealed Daphne sat at the circular table in front of the large window looking out into the grounds of the country club, the very table they had been sat around when Daphne was sick. Fred, Shaggy and Scooby entered the room, to Daphne's surprise.

The four of them sat around the table and Fred explained that they needed to decide their next move in solving this mystery. Though Daphne was pissed off at Fred still, they had a mystery to solve and when she got involved with him, she promised herself to try to focus on the work they had. "So when we found Velma at the beach I found a cloak. One like the weird witch who was controlling the creature was wearing." Daphne explained."  
"Like, do we think that the witch in the cloak is Wanda Grubwort back from the dead?" Shaggy asked, nervously. "Doubtful Shag, but we need to explore all potential leads." Fred replied and continued, "was there anything interesting about the cloak Daph?"  
"It had purple paint on it, we need to investigate the boat Shaggy calls the S.S. Daphne." Fred laughed as she said it, but immediately stopped when she sent him a look. "Agreed. Okay so Scooby, Shaggy, you look around here to see if there's anymore clues to the witch. There's a lot of places we haven't investigated. Daph and I will check out the boat to see if the witch or frog creature has been there." Fred got up to leave but was interrupted.  
"I'd rather go with Scooby or Shaggy." Daphne folded her arms, looking up at him with an annoyed expression. She didn't want to talk to him. "Daph, please?" He didn't know what else to say, but he wanted a chance to explain himself and considering the boat needed to be investigated, he thought he could kill two birds with one stone. "Fine."


	11. Chapter 11

Shaggy and Scooby made their way around the country club grounds, using flashlights as it was 9pm and dark out. They had passed the tennis court and pool so far and were making their way towards the spa which hadn't been checked out. They couldn't understand why a witch and a frog creature would go to the spa but they had to make sure to cover all areas. "Raggy! Rook!" Scooby pulled Shaggy to a hault and they hid behind one of the nearest bushes. They saw what looked to be the cloaked witch heading towards one of the dark, grassy areas. Shaggy and Scooby discreetly followed, keeping a healthy distance.

After a quiet and awkward ride to the dock, Fred parked the Mystery Machine and climbed out. The drive had only been a few minutes, as it wasn't too far away from the country club but they didn't want to risk walking, in case they bumped into the witch or frog creature. Fred was about to open Daphne's door for her but she had already gotten out by the time he got to her side. He shrugged and made his way towards the boat, Daphne close behind him. Lifting the flashlight from his jacket pocket, Fred shone it in the windows of the boat but was unsuccessful in seeing anything. He climbed onto the boat, offering Daphne his hand which she reluctantly took. She was mad, but she was also pregnant so falling into the lake really wasn't an option.

Once inside, everything seemed normal, exactly what you would expect. They briefly looked around but couldn't see anything of interest, at least until they noticed some stairs. Fred began to walk down them, looking up to see if Daphne was still following. As he helped her down, they didn't notice a slimy hand trying to grab at her…

"Scoob, I can't see the witch anymore!" Shaggy said, panicking that the witch was about to jump out from somewhere. "Rover rhere!" Scooby looked towards a patch of land covered with sand and saw the witch frantically digging in the sand. "Is that a staff she's holding?" Shaggy questioned, seeing a large pole looking object in the witch's hand. "Rooks rike it." The witch appeared unsatisfied with the digging and began to walk away into an area surrounded by trees, seemingly vanishing into them. "We have to go check it out." Scooby was surprised at Shaggy's suggestion, mainly because it sounded brave and that was very un-Shaggy-like. Scooby began digging, much faster than the witch thanks to his huge paws. Shaggy was looking around the grass. "Raggy!" Scooby exclaimed, making Shaggy run over to him. Scooby sat looking proudly at his discovery. "Woah, it's one of those moonstones that Velma likes! I wonder if that was what the witch was looking for." Shaggy picked up the stone and he and Scooby decided to go back to their room to see if they could find any information about the moonstones.

"In here Daph!" Fred said as he entered a room on the lower floor they were on. It was quite a small, semi-messy room with papers and books everywhere. Daphne took one side of the room, Fred the other but since it was small they weren't very far away, probably arm's length if they both reached. Daphne found some articles that had been taken out of an old newspaper. The paper was crinkled and slightly faded. "These are about the witch, well at least the witch that Uggins told us about. Maybe not our witch." Daphne said, lifting up the papers and showing Fred, who moved to where she was stood. "Wanda Grubwort used an ancient staff as the source of her black magic." Fred said, reading from one of the papers. "Legend says Grubwort's powers from the staff came from mo-" he was cut off by the slamming of the door. "Uh oh." Fred gulped as he tried to open the door.  
"Please don't say we're locked in." Daphne said, looking through the small, circular window of the door. Fred didn't answer, instead just began calling for help. "Uhh- it looks like we're gonna be stuck in here." He said, becoming visibly distressed.  
"That might be the least of our worries…" Daphne yelled when looking towards the floor where a pipe had burst, leaking water into the room. Both Fred and Daphne began screaming for help. Daphne picked up the newspapers, putting them into her waterproof bag which she sometimes used at the beach. She didn't think it would come in handy for something like this.

The water in the room was already knee-deep when they gave up on screaming for help. "Oh I have an idea Fred, why don't you 'text' that blonde girl you were hugging earlier and had your arms around the other day." Now was not the time for that comment but Daphne couldn't ignore it any longer. "Daph do you really think this is a great time to bring up dumb stuff?" Fred was frantically searching the room for something to hit the door with. "Dumb stuff? Are you kidding me! I was fucking coming to you to tell you that I love you yesterday and you had her hands all over her!" Fred paused at looked at her, eyes widened. He cleared his throat ready to explain himself, but was still shocked at what she said.  
"Daphne it was nothing okay. I helped her with putting yeah? That's my job. Okay maybe I should've been less handsy but there was nothing going on." Daphne was conflicted, he sounded sincere when he was explaining himself. "Then what about today?" She folded her arms, almost forgetting about the water rising. "Okay I took her number Daph, at the pool when I was working. You know why?" Daphne shook her head. "Because she saw the cloaked… witch person. She saw her-it in the early hours of the morning picking something up on the beach then heading into the cave." Daphne's expression softened. He was telling the truth and she knew it. "W-why was she on the beach so early." Daphne managed to say, in a much smaller voice than she had been talking in her previous accusations. "She was out jogging."  
"Freddie- I'm- I'm sorry… I didn't know." Fred was happy that she finally allowed him to explain but he couldn't help wishing it was sooner, in better circumstances. "Why didn't you let me explain- to let me talk to you at the time then we would've been okay."  
"I'm sorry. I just- I've just had a lot going on and I saw you with her and I felt like crap." Fred pulled her into a hug, the water just below their waist. "Daphne, I love you too." He said, responding to what she had said minutes earlier. "I've been meaning to tell you for a while but I was scared because I've never felt this way about anyone before." Daphne started to cry at his words, all the emotions hit her at once, everything was so overwhelming that she hadn't even realised they may not make it out alive. Not only that, but it wasn't only Fred and Daphne's lives at risk. _Do I tell him now? What if we're going to die, would he want to know he was going to be a dad before he died or would that crush him._ Daphne had an inner battle with herself before she realised he HAD to know.

Fred had tried to smash the window using any hardback books, a plank of wood from an old bookshelf, anything he could find, but they were running out of time. "Freddie." Daphne looked at him, he came over and kissed her head. "Yeah?"  
"We really need to get out of here." She was terrified of telling him, this wasn't planned, this wasn't the way she wanted him to find out. "I know Daph I'm trying. I'm all out of ideas." He looked defeated, but she knew they had to get out alive, for the baby. "I need to tell you something. It's really important." She had tears in her eyes, he was nervous as to what she was about to say.  
"Freddie, you have to get us out of here, I'm pregnant." As soon as the words left her mouth, she broke into tears. Fred's jaw dropped. Pregnant? Daphne? They were 17 years old and she was pregnant. "Y-you're pregnant? Since when?"  
"I took a test yesterday. Fred we forgot to get the pill that time… after the vampire/school mystery." Fred remembered the exact conversation they had about taking the pill. He couldn't believe they forgot to get it. "Daphne I-I'm sorry. It's all my fault I shouldn't have paired us off- I should've brought protection- I should've got you the pill-" Fred was cut off by her lips being pressed against his. "We both did this okay. Right now Freddie you have to get us out of here." The water was reaching Daphne's chest and she was smaller than Fred, growing increasingly worried about the situation. "Daphne stand on there!" Fred said, gesturing towards a suitcase. It would make her a few more inches tall whilst he figured out what to do. "Stay there Daph, don't move okay?" She didn't have time to respond before Fred ducked held his breath and ducked under the water. He scrambled across the floor, looking for something- anything that could safe himself, girlfriend and baby. He was running out of breath, so emerged from the water to catch it. "Freddie I'm scared!" Daphne cried out. He swam over to where she was. "Daphne I promise we're going to be okay. I need you to keep your head above the water okay? I'll be right back."  
"Fred?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I love you." she smiled at him as she spoke. He returned the smile and quickly kissed her hand.  
"I love you too Daph, so much."


	12. Chapter 12

Fred took a large breath and returned back under the water. He noticed that were the pipe had burst, a large piece of it remained on the floor, next to where the water was still coming out. With no other options, this had to work. Part of the pipe was still attached to the main machinery, so he had to pull with all he could to separate it. He knew he was losing oxygen, but he needed to act fast and get them the hell out of there. He placed a foot against the wall, both hands gripping the pipe and pulled as hard as he could. It had finally loosened, allowing him to twist it and come undone. He picked up the medium sized tube that was then laying against the ground and resurfaced, much to the relief of Daphne who was growing increasingly more worried. He had been under what felt like over five minutes, but in reality it probably wasn't even one.  
Fred glided in the water over to the circular window of the door, holding the pipe tightly and began to hit it.  
"Come on, come on!" Fred said, determinedly, forcing the pipe into the window. He hit it with force, three times in a row. It seemed to be working better than the previous attempts. He was beginning to feel defeated again, after another three hits with no luck. He looked back at Daphne, then to her stomach before turning his attention back to the window "COME ON!" He yelled forcing the pipe into the window, with as much force as his body would allow him. He repeated this stronger method three times before the glass shattered, falling on the other side of the door and the water began pouring out, making the water in the room finally go down.  
"Freddie you did it! You saved us! All of us." He moved over to Daphne and embraced her whilst they waited for most of the water to drain out. "That was close. Way too close Daph. This mystery is getting really dangerous I don't know if we can risk anything like that happening again, especially with you." Fred pulled her close whilst he said this, kissing the top of her head and holding onto her like he never wanted to let go. "We have to. We can't give up now. We'll just have to be extra safe."

Some time later, Fred and Daphne returned to the room, where they met with Shaggy and Scooby, still leaving Velma undisturbed. They figured she would join them if she was feeling up to it. Fred and Daphne explained what happened, they decided to tell Shaggy and Scooby about the baby, considering Velma already knew. They were completely shocked, but happy for the couple and seemed very protective of Daphne already.  
"So what did you guys find?" Fred asked whilst Daphne began putting all their clues on the table.  
"We saw the witch hanging around the trees and stuff not too far from the spa. She was digging but then disappeared into the darker part. Scoob and I went over and he dug up this. I figure she was looking for it." Shaggy put the moonstone on the table and Fred and Daphne closely inspected it. "Wait a minute." Daphne suddenly realised something. She looked through the newspaper articles that she had saved using the waterproof purse. "We were just about to read this but then the water started to fill up." She showed the others one article. Fred recalled reading it but not all of it.  
"It says Grubwort used moonstones as the magic in her staff. So it isn't just the staff that is magical, but the moonstones are needed to power it?" Fred questioned and the rest of the group nodded in agreement. "Like, Velma and I found that one on the beach when we first explored there. She really loved it." Shaggy said, with a goofy smile on his face, remembering the time they had shared. Daphne however, had a very different look on her face. "Gang…" she hesitated "Velma is the witch."

"Daph are you crazy?!" Shaggy exclaimed, looking puzzled as to why Daphne would say such a thing. Fred and Scooby didn't speak, instead waiting for an explanation. "Think about it, the clues have been under our noses the entire time. Shaggy you said she got sick that time at the beach, that was when you found the very first moonstone. She wasn't there any of the times that the creature attacked, that the witch showed up and she spilled her tea on the computers when we were about to reveal the witch's identity!" Suddenly, everyone in the room looked at Daphne as if she was the smartest person alive. She was right. Daphne had solved it. "Daphne you're right! How could we have missed those clues. Guys remember we found Velma at the beach this morning. Sasha (the blonde girl) said that she saw a figure near the caves at the beach. Daph you found the cloak with paint from the boat on. The very boat that we almost died in." Fred added to Daphne's clues and everything began to come together. Shaggy looked upset but he knew they were right. "Rand Relma had rarts ron her hands." The gang looked at Scooby as he spoke and realised he was right. They had seen clear evidence of Velma in witch form with the grotesque warts across her arms.

The gang pondered for a few moments, as to what their next move should be. Fred, despite being the unofficial leader couldn't even think of anything. Confronting Velma would be no use, especially if the spirit of Wanda Grubwort had possessed her, heck she most likely wouldn't be aware of it. Shaggy was aimlessly looking through one of the books that Velma had been reading on one of the previous nights, hoping to find anything that could decide their next move. Suddenly, his face lit up as he made his way over to the mirror that was across the room. The others looked at him, raising an eyebrow wondering why now of all times was Shaggy, possibly the scruffiest member of Mystery Inc, admiring himself in the mirror. "Like, guys… check this out." Scooby was the first to join Shaggy in front of the mirror, but was completely oblivious what was going on. . Fred clapped him on the back. "No way, Grubwort backwards is Trowburg, the name of the gas station from the night we got here!"  
"Shaggy! You're a genius!" Daphne complimented, catching onto what the lanky teen was staring at

So they had a lead, but they didn't have a plan of action. They returned to their seats, now determined to find any information on how save Velma and solve this mystery. Shaggy continued reading the book, hoping he would be able to decipher anymore clues. Scooby had decided to go and check on Velma, the last thing they wanted was to her to realised they knew what was going on if the Wanda Grubwort part of her was in control. Fred and Daphne were sitting next to each other, going over with fine detail, every single newspaper article they had recovered. "So we know about the moonstones being a source of power and we know that Velma is the one who has been doing all this. But how? Why?" Fred asked, not really expecting an answer but more just vocalising his thoughts. "Well if the moonstones are the source of power which are used in the staff, as soon as Velma picked up that first moonstone her and Shaggy found on the beach, Grubwort must've possessed her." Daphne explained, showing the group an article dated 1965 where someone claimed to have had an encounter with someone possessed by the powerful witch. "They took Wilma Groves to an asylum, no one believed her…"  
"What are we gonna do?" Shaggy asked nervously. He didn't want anything bad to happen to Velma whilst she was possessed by the witch. "I don't know Shag. We need to go back to Trowburg's but I'm reluctant to do that until we know what her plan is. We could do without any more near-death experiences." Fred turned his eyes to Daphne when saying the last part, putting his hand on hers, resting them on her thigh. Scooby came running in the room, interrupting the moment and frantically trying to speak. "RUYS! RELMA RISNT THERE." It took the others a moment to process what he was saying but then they realised and became wide eyed.  
"You don't think she went to Trowburg's do you?" Daphne asked the group.  
"But what's so significant about that place. What would a witch want with a gas station?" Fred responded, unable to provide an explanation.  
"What about the cave on the beach? You know where Daph found the cloak, maybe she could be headed there and not Trowburg's." The gang looked to Shaggy as he spoke, they were dumbfounded that he had such an idea as he was usually the one to shy away and run from anything like this. "Well, I hate to say it gang… but it looks like we're gonna have to split up again." Fred declared, running a hand through his hair in a way that he only did when he was stressed. He would rather them stay as a group in case anything bad happened again but they needed to explore both places, it would take too long to do one then the other and who knows what Velma would be doing by then. "Shaggy, Scooby you take the cave. I'll go to Trowburg's…" Fred began but the others looked at him confused.  
"Uh Freddie- what about me?" The redhead asked, expecting him to have suggested they pair off together like always. "Daph I don't want to put you at risk. What happened on the boat was scary enough. We have no idea what she's capable of and I need to keep you safe."  
"But you can't go alone or you won't be safe! I will not raise this baby alone Fred Jones." The tone of voice was one that you couldn't argue with, in normal circumstances anyway but this was serious to Fred. "Please Daphne. I'll be fine." Daphne shook her head, no way would she let him go alone.  
"If I'm not going then neither are you. Then I guess Velma will stay this way forever. The decision is yours." Daphne said, knowing it was absolutely not a decision because no one would agree to Velma staying as a witch forever. She had been so scared at the thought of losing Fred in the boat earlier that she couldn't bare the thought of him going somewhere without her. Fred knew he had to back down so he just managed an 'Okay." Arguing with Daphne about this was useless, and deep down Fred knew it was too dangerous to go alone.


	13. Chapter 13

The gang had agreed to call the second anything was wrong and the others would rush to help as soon as possible. Shaggy and Scooby were now at the cave on the beach, holding a flashlight each, Scooby's being attached by a head device so he could still walk. "Like, after you Scoob." Shaggy gestured towards the cave. Scooby shot him a blank look and rolled his eyes. "What ro Rooby Snacks?" Shaggy chuckled and handed him two Scooby Snacks to which he devoured immediately. He also popped two in his own mouth. With Scooby taking the lead, Shaggy walked slowly behind him, making sure he pointed the flashlight every possible way so they didn't miss anything. The cave was narrow inside, often Shaggy had to crouch due to his lanky appearance. "This cave looks like it could go on forever!" Shaggy said when pointing the flashlight in front of them, revealing what looked to be an ongoing tunnel with no light at the end.

Meanwhile, Fred and Daphne had parked up at Trowburg's gas station. Fred turned the engine off but didn't move to get out. "Is everything okay Freddie?" Daphne asked, noticing his hesitation which wasn't like Fred. He looked blankly out of the window before turning to face her.  
"I'm scared Daph." Her face softened as he spoke because Fred Jones was never one for admitting his fears, especially when he always acted so brave and heroic in front of her. "I'm scared too Freddie. But we're Mystery Inc and we always figure it out in the end. We got this." She assured him whilst placing taking his hand and caressing it. Fred managed a small smile, though her gestures were sweet, she didn't realise exactly what he meant. Yes, he was scared at what was to come with the mystery, but Fred had other things on his mind. "I'm scared about the baby." He mumbled, half not wanting her to hear what he said, but of course she did. Daphne beamed hearing him talk about it, even if it was because he was confessing his fears. She feared the worst about telling Fred, in case he didn't want it, or broke up with her, but here he was supporting her and admitting it was scaring him. "Freddie, it's normal to be scared about that too! We're young, we have school and mysteries to think of so I understand why. I'm scared too but I know we'll manage, and I know you'll be an amazing dad." Fred smiled at her words and pulled her into his embrace. They stayed like that for a few minutes, his arms wrapped around her as they faced the front window on the van. He kissed the top of her head and rested his head against hers. "We should probably go inside." Daphne suggested. Fred nodded but hadn't wanted to go in yet even though he knew they had to. They shared a tender kiss before climbing out of the van and walking up to the front door.

Shaggy and Scooby felt like they had been walking for hours when in reality it had only been about 15 minutes. They had approached a sharp turn in the cave which finally looked as though it led to somewhere! A yellow glow appeared at the end of the tunnel. Despite being relieved that it led somewhere, Shaggy couldn't help but feeling butterflies in his stomach at the thought of what was down there. Unfortunately, this was interrupted by a low and deep growling sound which echoed through the cave. "Scooby Doo! Like please tell me that was your stomach…" Shaggy nervously laughed when looking at his canine companion. Scooby flinched and turned around to find none other than the frog creature standing a short distance behind them and nearing very close very fast. "Ruh Roh!" Scooby zoomed as fast as his paws could carry him, not even waiting for Shaggy to catch up. "Scoob!" Shaggy hurriedly made after his pal, looking behind his shoulder every few seconds to see how close the creature was.

Fred pushed the door open, not bothering to knock. He held Daphne's hand and made sure she was close to him. Shining the flashlight around the familiar room, everything appeared to be exactly how they left it those days previous. "It just looks normal, I mean definitely creepier than other gas stations but nothing leading us to Grubwort." Daphne said, sighing and feeling like they were being defeated. "It doesn't make sense, surely it can't be a coincidence that Grubwort and Trowburg are acronyms of each other." Fred commented, still looking around the room for anything at all that could be indicative of their current mystery. "What are you two doing here!" A voice yelled from behind the desk. Daphne and Fred jumped in fear, not realising anyone else was in there. When they turned around it was the crazy older lady who had warned them to stay away when they had arrived! "We're so sorry Ma'am. We didn't realise anyone was here!" Fred began, looking to Daphne for some help. "Yeah we're really sorry but we're trying to solve the lake monster mystery."  
"And you thought coming here would help?" The old lady said, raising an eyebrow at the teens.  
"Well we realised that Grubwort spelled backwards is Trowburg. Wanda Grubwort as in the evil witch who we think has possessed our friend Velma." Fred explained, seeming sceptical of the old lady which she picked up on. She sighed and seemed to soften. "I tried to warn you young ones days ago. Yes I admit it okay. I'm a distant relative of Wanda. I changed by surname so that no one would know, for obvious reasons. My family didn't want shame upon us for the horrid witch Wanda was. I'll help look around for any clues in here since you think this place is of significance, though I haven't noticed any strange goings on." Fred, Daphne and Mrs Grubwort (Trowburg) began searching across the bookshelves and collection of random things in the room. Fred stumbled upon a door with a brass doorknob on it which was set at the back of the room. "What's in there?" Fred asked, causing Mrs Grubwort and Daphne to join him. "That's just an old storage cupboard we used to use, but we stopped using it because it would always get stuck and my grandson got trapped in there once. We never got around to buying another door." As quickly as she spoke, Mrs Grubwort then realised that the door was ever-so-slightly ajar. Something she hadn't seen for the year in which it had been stuck. "That's odd." Daphne simply commented. Fred nudged the door slightly, and what was inside appeared underwhelming. It was exactly as described, an old storage cupboard that was completely empty. "Well, I guess we have nothing." Fred said, holding his hands behind his head. He was at a loss at what to do next. "Hold on a second. I don't remember this being there…" Mrs Grubwort sounded confused as she leaned towards the wooden floor and pulled what seemed to be a thick piece of rope. Without warning, a square patch of the floor began to rise. "A trapdoor!" Daphne exclaimed, helping the old woman to open it full. The three of them peered down but it was pitch black. "Well Daph, there's our lead."

Shaggy and Scooby finally reached the glow at the end of the tunnel. The frog creature seemed to have slightly slowed down behind them, allowing them a chance to catch their breath from running so fast. When they looked around what they expected to be the end of the tunnel, Shaggy and Scooby became disappointed. What they saw before them was a part of the cave that was much higher, Shaggy could stand up straight and lift his arms up and not reach the top. It was quite wide too. In front of them they saw three different routes, and pondered which one to follow. Shaggy scratched his beard whilst Scooby gave each one a quick sniff. "Scoob, I can't believe I'm gonna say this but- I think we should split up." Scooby looked at him in shock, but knew it was probably for the best. "Ri'll take rhis one." He said, opting for the cave opening on the left whereas Shaggy took the one on the right, leaving the middle one free. They hoped the frog creature didn't see their decisions and took the middle one.

Daphne and Fred began climbing down the sand coloured ladder from the trapdoor at the gas station. Fred told Mrs Grubwort to stay and call the authorities, hopefully they would believe them. They knew they were onto something here and they might need the back up. When Fred reached the bottom of the ladder, he helped Daphne down. They turned around to find a yellow glow at the end, not too far away from where they were, probably the length of a tennis court. "Stay close Daph." Fred spoke quietly, not wanting to be noticed by whoever might be down there. Daphne wrapped her arms around Fred's right arm, they moved at a cautious pace but it only took them a few minutes to get to the light. Unbeknownst to Daphne and Fred, they had arrived at the exact same part of the cave that Scooby and Shaggy were at around ten minutes earlier. "Daph, do you think you can choose your women's intuition to choose which tunnel we should go into?" Fred was half-joking, knowing their fate within each of the tunnel was down to luck. "Let's take the middle." She responded, hoping that she had made the right choice.

**A/N- I have a few more chapters saved to my laptop but want to double check things before I upload. I'm currently going through a phase of writers block for the chapter I'm working on so hopefully I get some ideas pretty quick! Enjoy, don't forget to review, the reviews are really encouraging for me. Also, if you have any criticisms/ways of improving for future chapters let me know and I'll try to include them. **


	14. Chapter 14

Shaggy made his way through the tunnel, flashlight in hand. It didn't appear to be a long tunnel but as he was scared as to what would be at the end, he was taking his time to be cautious and as prepared as he possibly could. "Like, I sure hope Scooby is okay." He mumbled quietly.

Scooby was as okay as you could be, being a dog walking down a creepy tunnel trying to find one of your best friends who had been possessed by an evil witch from decades ago. His fur was stood on end, the dog equivalent to goosebumps he imagined. Scooby was sniffing along the ground as he made his way through the tunnel. It was mostly just sand, dirt and rocks with the slight smell of saltwater from the sea that he could detect.

"Where do you think this leads Freddie?" Daphne asked, still holding onto Fred's arm as they made their way through the middle of the three tunnels within the cave. Fred flickered the flashlight around the tunnel, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. "I dunno Daph. I sure hope its nothing."

Shaggy was feeling apprehensive about what he would find at the end, but his mind was trailing off thinking about Velma. Where was she? Is she okay? Would he ever get the chance to tell her how he really feels about her? He shook his head at the last thought. He knew now wasn't the time to be thinking about his feelings for her, but it couldn't be helped. They had been friends for over a year now and he had only realised across the last few months about seeing her as more than a friend. What took him so long? Shaggy stopped in his tracks, being distracted from his thoughts about Velma by a strange growling/gurgling sound behind him. He slowly turned his head and pointed the flashlight behind him. He really hoped Scooby had gotten freaked out and decided to join him in his tunnel, but the chances of that were unlikely. "FROG CREATURE!" Shaggy screeched as his gaze finally met with the oversized amphibian that stood before him. "AHHH!" He screamed as he turned back around and bolted down the tunnel, the frog creature trying his best to keep up…

Scooby was faintly whimpering as he walked. He didn't like when he and Shaggy split up, it was on very rare occasions like this when they did but it didn't make it any easier. Shaggy was his best friend, his owner, and he knew this mystery wasn't just a bad guy in a mask like all the others before. What if something happened to Shaggy? What would he do then? Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. They didn't sound familiar enough to be Shaggy, or any other member of the gang for that matter. "Ruh roh." He cried, turning around and slightly twitching his eye. He knew exactly what he would find. Frog creature! "RAHHHHH!" he yelled, galloping away as fast as his paws could carry him, which was pretty fast considering all the practice he had running away from monsters…

Fred and Daphne's tunnel appeared to be shorter than Shaggy and Scooby's. They had been walking less time but were closer to the yellow glow at the end. "Looks like we're about to find out where this leads babe." Fred said, taking her hand and walking slightly faster than they were before. He was concerned at what was to come when they got to the end, Daphne however was more concerned with the darkness behind them. She turned her head every 20 seconds or so, just to give it the all clear. On the 4th time however, they weren't alone…

Shaggy reached the end of the tunnel, running so fast that his legs got tangled beneath him. He clawed at the air to keep his balance but was unsuccessful. Flying through the air at speed, he tumbled and lay face down in the dirty, sandy ground. He shook his head, sand particles flying everywhere as his shaggy hair flickered, reminiscent of a wet dog shaking. He paused in position for a moment, taking in his surroundings. He was still in the cave, but a much larger part of it, the heart of the cave if you like. Shaggy's eyes were darting across his environment, but he became interrupted by something hitting him full force. Unbeknownst to him, Scooby had emerged from behind, coming from one of three tunnels that were behind them, the routes they had taken separately earlier. "RAGGY!" Scooby exclaimed, when he finally managed to scramble off of Shaggy.  
"Like Scooby Doo! We ended up in the same place!" Scooby licked the teenage hippie's face, gaining a head scratch in return before Shaggy climbed to his feet. "Ri was chased by a frog creature." Scooby declared, suddenly remembering the reason he had been charging through his tunnel.  
"Wait…. I was too!" The two of them grew wide eyed when they realised.  
"Rat means rheres two!"  
"Like zoinks! We have to tell Fred and Daphne! If there's two frog creatures already, there's no telling how many there could be." Shaggy reached into the pocket of his brown, baggy trousers but as if on cue, before he could reach for his phone, Fred and Daphne appeared from the middle tunnel. "Shaggy and Scooby?" Daphne said, sounding confused as to how they all ended up there.  
"What are you guys doing here?" Fred asked, taking in their surroundings.  
"Scoob and I split up, we each took a tunnel each and I guess they all led here." Shaggy gestured to the tunnels that he and Scooby had just come running through minutes previously. Daphne looked around and turned her attention to the others. "Fred and I found a trapdoor at Trowburg's and ended up at the start of those tunnels. We took the middle."  
"Rowburg's leads rhere?" Scooby questioned, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.  
"That's right Scoob. Mrs Grubwort or Trowburg or whatever is a descendent of Wanda but she's harmless. Now we just have to figure out why the beach and the gas station are connected and what the hell this place is for." Fred explained to the group.

**A/N- So I struggled to think of a way to write this chapter the way I wanted it to turn out so yeah lmao bit all over the place and I'm not creative enough to do it another way. Other chapters won't be so all over the place. Don't forget to leave a review- I don't mind if its bad or good. **


	15. Chapter 15

The four members of Mystery Inc searched the cave that they were in, each of them taking separate areas. The main thing that stood out was in the middle, at the back what appeared to be some sort of small pond, protected by a rock exterior. You could call it a rock pool. The water was green and swampy looking, not something you would expect to find in a cave of this sort. Scooby was sniffing around the rock pool when his ears perked up. Like two radars, his ears pointed in the direction of the three tunnels that the gang had just come from. "Ruys, ri think rhe frog creatures are coming." He said, his voice slightly wobbling as he slumped to the ground trembling. "Hide behind those stalagmites!" Fred exclaimed, pointing to several large rock-like objects emerging from the ground. Shaggy and Scooby hid behind one, Fred and Daphne behind the other but they were pretty close together, close enough to whisper and understand each other.

Seconds later, three frog creatures emerged from the cave tunnels, each from a different one. Fred and Daphne's eyes grew wide-eyed as they watched them interact in some language that resembled the Sims. The creatures moved so they were standing in a line, next to each other as opposed to behind. The gang watched intently wondering what their next move would be. Without warning, and a complete shock, Velma appeared from the middle tunnel. "What the-" Fred began but Daphne cut him off by placing her hand over his mouth. Velma stood before the frog creatures and in turn, they bowed. "My creatures, have you found the final moonstone?" She asked, in a voice that was clearly Velma but with an undertone of something more sinister. It was a voice the gang had never heard from her before, only to be described as monstrous. The frog creatures looked to the ground, it was clear they had failed their task. "YOU FOOLS! I GIVE YOU POWER AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!" this time the voice was terrifying, she spoke so angry and threatening so much so that the frog creatures appeared to cower away. "She created them." Shaggy muttered, as Scooby covered his eyes with his oversized paws. "I need the final moonstone to take over this puny excuse of a human and to take back my kingdom! You three are useless alone, maybe more should cover more ground." Velma turned her body so she was peering into the rock pool Scooby had sniffed around earlier.  
"She wants to take complete control over Velms…" Daphne trailed off, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she watched her best friend act in a way she had never seen before.

The gang knew she had no control over this, they just wanted their smart, bespectacled friend back. Velma raised her hand and the staff which held two moonstones on the top, there was enough room for one more. Several frogs were resting in the water. She spoke but it was difficult to tell what she was saying. Fred and Daphne exchanged confused looks with Shaggy and Scooby.  
"Is that some kind of spell?" Fred asked, turning his eyes back to the scene before him.  
"A spell for what?" Just as the words left Daphne's mouth, the green pond water began bubbling aggressively. Velma stepped back with a smirk on her face, but not the kind of smirk that belonged to her. It was different and not as warm or friendly as the Velma everyone knew and loved. All of a sudden, six frog creatures emerged from the water, identical to the one's that had been chasing the gang earlier. Daphne quietly gasped as she watched them march towards the other creatures.  
"Now, you six go across the country club and beach looking for this stone." Velma began, pointing to the fresh batch of frog creatures. They left in twos, each pair taking one of the three tunnels. She then turned her attention towards the original three. "You three stay here and help me search these caves again."

The gang waited, they didn't know what for. They had no plan other than to remain unnoticed. Daphne was leaning against Fred's chest, he had an arm around her. Scooby was resting his head on Shaggy's shoulder, still watching Velma and the frog creatures. Velma seemed to be pacing up and down, occasionally scratching her chin or head, seeming unsure of what to do, much how the gang felt in that moment. The frog creatures were searching on the other side of the cave, away from where the gang were hiding. The frog creatures seemed to be talking in their own language again, impossible for the other humans or even Scooby to understand. "Keep looking, we've searched everywhere! It has to be somewhere." Velma exclaimed, joining in the hunt for the moonstone.

Seconds turned into minutes, the gang growing increasingly nervous as the frog creatures and Velma were nearing their hiding spot. "Like guys… what are we supposed to do?" Shaggy asked, frantically switching between looking at Velma and to Fred and Daphne. Fred nervously looked around for any escape options or a plan of confronting Velma. He had nothing. He was always Fred Jones, the man with a plan, the one who trapped the monsters, the one who set everything up. Now he felt useless, and the pressure was on because he had to protect not only the gang and Daphne, but his unborn child. Fred looked to his right, past Daphne (Shaggy and Scooby were on their left). It seemed like another tunnel that could possibly be an exit of some sort. "Ok gang, whilst their backs are turned lets slowly make our way over there." He said softly, nodding his head towards the proposed exit. They slowly shuffled on their feet, still crouching behind the stalagmites. Fred and Daphne moved around theirs, still out of sight from the others, Shaggy and Scooby slowly followed them.

As Shaggy was about to move from his and Scooby's hiding spot to join Fred and Daphne, Velma spun around, glaring in the pairs' direction. "YOU!" She screamed, making the three frog creatures jump around to join in her gaze. "Ruh Roh." Scooby whined. Fred and Daphne watched on in shock from their spot. "BRING THEM TO ME!" Velma's yell echoed throughout the cave, the frog creatures obeyed their master and headed over to where Shaggy and Scooby were now standing in full view. In normal situations, they would run but Shaggy's face softened as he made eye contact with Velma, practically ignoring the oversized frogs almost by his side. One of them grabbed Shaggy, holding his hands behind his back and marching him over to where Velma was, another had picked up Scooby. The third frog creature began looking around the other stalagmites, which caused Fred and Daphne to panic. "Daph, you have to see where that tunnel leads ok? I'm gonna hand myself over, that way they won't look for you." Fred said, gazing into her green eyes and holding her hands with both of his. She was still tearful about the situation but she knew it was to risky for her and the baby, that didn't stop her worrying about Fred and the others. "But what about you? We don't know what she's going to do!" Daphne responded, in a hush tone but it was easy to detect the intonation in her voice. "Follow the tunnel, try to get out and get help. You might get signal on your phone if you can get back above ground. I'll try my best to prolong whatever they have planned." The two of them kissed on the lips, it was more than the kisses they had shared before. This one could only be described as a 'if we don't make it out its how I want to remember you' type of kiss. They remained eye contact for a few seconds. "Wait until they're distracted then go. I love you Daph." Fred said, kissing her one last time. "I love you too Freddie."


	16. Chapter 16

Fred slowly edged back to his original position, close to where Shaggy and Scooby had just been caught. He was now in vision of the frog creature searching the area, whereas Daphne was out of shot. It suddenly turned around and stared at him, raising it's slimy arms ready to grab him. Fred paused, waiting for the creature to get closer. Shaggy and Scooby watched from where they were standing over by Velma, still imprisoned by the other creatures. The creature took one more step closer to Fred, who briefly hesitated before holding onto the stalagmite with his palms and leaping into the air. With a swift, flying kick to the abdomen, the frog creature was knocked back. "GET HIM!" Velma ordered, witnessing the attack.

The creature grew more angry and charged at Fred. It's eyes enlarged, as if a red mist took over it and could focus on nothing but getting revenge. Fred backed up slowly, holding his arms slightly out as he crouched the tiniest bit. The creature swiped at him with its green, webbed hands. Fred ducked and rolled quickly, causing the creature to trip over him and plummet to the ground. It made a loud noise as it fell, evidently it was strong and heavy. Fred had no plan, in fact this had all been circumstantial and with the rush of adrenaline, his body had just reacted to his situation. _Now what_? He wondered looking over to the others. Shaggy was struggling against the firm grasp of his capturer, squirming as much as he could to escape its slimy clutches. Scooby could barely move as he was stabilised by the creature, holding him in its arms. Fred started to run over to help the pair of them, but as he picked up his feet, the creature laying before him took a hold of his ankle and pulled him to the ground.

Shaggy used what little upper body strength he had to cause himself to topple over the creatures arms, so his arms and head were against the ground. The creature clung onto his legs so he was almost upside down. Shaggy scratched at the floor to help himself escape but there was nothing to use to pull away from the creature. Suddenly, something fell to the ground from one of Shaggy's pant pockets. Velma pointed the staff at the object on the ground, the moonstones from the top of the staff lit up the area of the ground so it was more visible. "The final moonstone!" She yelled, sounding both angry and excited. "All these years and finally all three moonstones are mine!" she continued, along with a loud and evil cackle.

Fred looked up, moving his face from the ground as he was still laying chest down on the floor. "NOO!" he called out desperately. Scooby had been waiting for the slight release in grip the creature had on him, and it came as soon as the announcement of the third moonstone came. He took his chances and squirmed out of its arms, stretching his body as far as he could to wriggle away. The creature had taken a couple of seconds to realise but tried to gain a grip on him again, but it was too late. Scooby rushed over to where Shaggy was still being held upside down and bit the creature hard on its forearm. "GAGHHHHHHH!" It screamed as it released Shaggy to hold onto the wound it had just received. Shaggy dropped to the ground, not staying there long before bouncing up onto his feet. "NO!" Velma screamed and started to rush over, her hand open ready to get the final moonstone. Before she had the chance, Scooby scooped it up into his mouth, like a Labrador carrying an egg, holding it softly in place. He and Shaggy began running over to Fred, who kicked his capturer in the face to escape the clutch of his ankle. Shaggy took the stone from Scooby's mouth. "Fred! Like, catch!" he yelled, tossing the moonstone into the air and over to where Fred was now standing on his feet. He jumped in the air, catching the stone as if it was a football and stuffed it into his pocket.

Fred was a short distance in front which meant he could run down the tunnel that Daphne had gone down ahead with the moonstone. Shaggy and Scooby weren't far behind him. They ran as fast as they could, no sign of the creatures behind them yet. "I hope Daph is safe." Fred said in a hushed tone, but Shaggy and Scooby heard him and hoped the same thing. "She's tougher than she looks." Shaggy reminded him, to which Fred returned with a small smile.

**A/N: So I've been really busy at the moment and have been struggling to fit in writing- but thanks to those of you who take the time to read this! Please leave reviews so I know how I'm doing and ways to improve! I do feel like I haven't written this to the best of my ability but I've enjoyed it so next time I might not rush it as much and make it as good as I can. Let me know if you would like me to re-write any other Scooby Doo films and leave suggestions of which ones you would like to see! Thanks- AJ**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I realised I never mentioned why I haven't been referring to the 'lake monster' but instead I've been saying 'frog creatures' and that's just because whenever I watched the movie I couldn't help thinking lake monster was a really crappy name for them because they're definitely oversized frogs. When I thought of lake monster I expected something like the loch ness monster, maybe that's just me haha. I really do love this movie though, I really wish they kept Fred and Daphne together and did a third movie but sadly not :/ **

"What on earth…" Daphne trailed off. She had reached a dead end in the tunnel, a small space that had writing all over the walls in a chalk-like substance. She trailed her soft, manicured hands over the wall, tracing the words and drawings with her fingers. It was written in a different language by the looks of things, or possibly Latin so instead she had to try to decipher the meaning through the drawings. Daphne's eyes widened as she realised it was a plan. A plan written by Velma- Wanda. "She's going to take over the town! She's going to possess everyone!" She was interrupted from her reveal by Fred, Shaggy and Scooby charging into the dead end she was in. They all fell on top of each other, Fred at the bottom of the heap. He looked at Daphne's feet in front of him and gazed up. "Daph! You're okay!" he smiled, removing himself from the ground after pushing the other two off. He pulled Daphne into his arms and gently squeezed her. "I wouldn't say okay… look at this. Wanda is using Velma to possess the whole town!" she replied, gesturing to the wall. The others looked at the images and froze. "How are we gonna stop her?" Shaggy asked nervously, hoping Fred had a plan like he always did. "Well we have to start by getting the hell out of here." Fred responded and began looking around the cave. "Uh Freddie… it's a dead end." Daphne demonstrated by pushing on each of the cave walls and revealing no escape. The colour drained from his face. In fact, the whole gang appeared paralysed with fear as to how they were going to make it out of this one.

The gang were snapped back to reality when they heard the familiar groaning of the frog creatures and Velma's distorted voice. "OVER THERE!" She called, pointing her finger in the direction of the gang, who could only stand there and do nothing. Fred stood in front of Daphne protectively, Scooby jumped into Shaggy's arms. The three frog creatures charged ahead of Velma and each targeted one of the gang. The first one grabbed Fred and firmly gripped him against the cave wall, despite his best efforts to fight back, the creature had held him by the neck which stopped the struggling. The next one made its way over to Daphne. She went into protective mode and tried to hit the creature wherever she could, stomach, face, legs, everywhere. But nothing could stop the stronger creature grasping her arms and holding them above her head, also against the wall, a short distance away from Fred. "Daphne…" Fred tried to call but his voice was muffled by the grip of the frog creature. Velma and the final frog creature made their way towards Shaggy and Scooby, who had their eyes closed and shook with fear. "Grab the dog, I'll take care of the hippie." Velma instructed, the frog creature nodded in agreement and prised Scooby away. He held him in a way similar than earlier, but this time tighter and pressed against the wall so he had no escape. Velma held up her staff against Shaggy and backed him up against another of the cave walls. "You! You found that moonstone- my moonstone!" she screamed into his face, causing Shaggy to wince.  
"Like, I'm sorry I didn't know they were yours." Velma rolled her eyes as he spoke, moving the tip of the staff to his throat. "WHERE IS IT?!" Shaggy was confused as earlier everyone saw Shaggy throw the stone over to Fred. Of course, Shaggy was a loyal friend and didn't want Fred to get in anymore danger but being the leader, he was, Fred had to intervene. "I have it." Velma's head whipped around to stare where Fred was being held. "YOU!"  
"Look, I'll give it to you, just please let the others go." He begged, still finding it difficult to speak with the frog creature gripped around his neck. "Let them go? NEVER! Now give me that moonstone before I kill all of you." Velma threatened, using her staff to point at each member of the gang.

Velma hit the staff to the floor in anger, causing a surge of light to travel across the ground, hitting everyone in the room. The cave trembled and everyone winced due to the loud rumbling that came with it. "GIVE ME THE MOONSTONE!" She screamed, making her way over to Fred. He looked over to Daphne who was pale with fear, struggling to stay stood up as her feet were almost lifting from the floor as the frog creature held her up still, with her arms. "Please Velma. Let Daphne go at least. LOOK AT HER!" Fred half screamed half cried as her spoke and glanced over to Daphne again. Velma surprisingly followed his gaze. "She's pregnant remember. You know this. You wouldn't- you wouldn't do anything to hurt her or any of us." For a second, Velma's gaze softened as she appeared to take in what he was saying. Fred furrowed his eyebrows and looked to Daphne who had also seen the flicker of guilt on Velma's face. "Velms, you're my best friend. This isn't you, you don't want to hurt me, or anyone. We all love you. Please, please don't let Wanda do this to you!" Velma dropped to the ground when she heard this, using her hands to support herself. The gang exchanged looks and without saying a word, they knew this was their only shot.

"VELMA IS LONG GONE!" A voice screamed in anger. It was coming from Velma, but it wasn't the distorted version of her voice that was present before. It not appeared that Wanda Grubwort had taken over Velma's entire voice and it was completely hers that was communicating with the gang now. "Shaggy, you have to tell her!" Fred called, the frog creature gripping him tighter with each word he spoke. "Like tell her what?" Shaggy yelled, he was slumped on the ground where Velma had left him previously. "Row rou feel!" Scooby cried, even he knew what Fred was referring to instantly. He looked at his master and hoped now was the time he was going to be completely real with Velma.

Shaggy's legs resembled jelly when he began standing up. He didn't know whether it was due to the fear of the frog creatures and Wanda possessing Velma, or because he knew he had to be totally transparent about his feelings for Velma in front of the whole gang and her. "L-like Velms, I know you're in there.." he trailed off, catching her attention. She walked over to him seemingly more normal than she had been the entire trip up until this point. "Shaggy-" she began, in her normal voice that made Shaggy's heart flutter every time she said his name. Suddenly, her facial expression changed from its familiar soft, friendly one to the vicious and threatening one again. "NO! YOU FOOL YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" came Wanda's voice once again. In normal circumstances, Shaggy would've made a run for it by now, being the chicken the gang all knew and loved. But this time, it was personal. "Velms please, I know you can fight her! You're smart and strong enough to fight it- to solve the mystery like you always do. That's what drives me crazy about you…" Velma fell to her knees in front of Shaggy, head up in the air as if she was being possessed again. Thankfully that wasn't the case. "Shaggy! I'm trying- NO YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME! Shaggy I- YOU MORTALS THINK THIS IS GOING TO WORK?" The gang watched in horror as the voice changed from Velma to Wanda, to Velma and back to Wanda. It was obvious she was fighting the internal battle and it was unclear at this point who was winning. Groans and shrieks could be heard from Velma as her body thrusted from side to side.

During Velma's fight with Wanda, the frog creature's grip loosened on the others. Fred furrowed his eyebrows at this, seeming as though they had given up. All three of the creatures dropped to the ground at the same time, laying there motionless. "Gang it's working! Velma is doing it!" Fred yelled, after running over to embrace Daphne. "You can do it Velma! Please keep fighting that evil witch!" Daphne called over to her friend, Shaggy and Scooby watching the whole thing. "You won't get away with this Wanda! You… can't… take OVER!" Velma screamed as she spoke, lunging back as she finished her sentence. Her body crashed against the ground as a purple fog began to surround her. The gang all rushed over, huddling around her, waiting for anything they could do to help.

The purple wisp began coming from where Velma's heart was located, flying higher than the height of the gang. Suddenly, it became clear it was Wanda's sprit leaving Velma's body. Velma sat bolt upright as it left, returning to her usual self in an instance. The purple, ghost-form of Wanda stretched her arms out and cackled as she looked down to the gang. "Ruh Roh!" Scooby commented, covering his eyes with his paws. Shaggy helped Velma to her feet and the gang made an attempt to run away. "I don't think so!" Wanda shrieked, flying over to the only exit that the gang were headed for. Wanda put both of her phantom hands together and aimed towards Fred, sending a flash of purple in her direction, causing him to hit the back of the wall. She then repeated this with Shaggy, aiming to firstly take out the guys before she turned her attention to Velma and Daphne. Fred quickly jumped up, realising the consequences if Wanda did that to a pregnant Daphne, but he leaned against the wall as a shooting pain came across his ribs. "Scooby!" Fred yelled, hoping the Great Dane knew what he was about to say. Of course, mans best friend was already prepared for the occasion. "Rover rhere!" He called, pulling his tongue out to Wanda and shaking his behind. "Stupid mutt!" Wanda grimaced, sending several purple, flying 'balls' his way. Scooby strategically dodged all of them, only causing her to become more angry. "FOOLISH DOG!"

"I have a plan!" Daphne said, whilst Wanda was distracted chasing Scooby with her ammunition. She rushed over to the staff that had dropped when Wanda's spirit exited Velma. "Freddie, do you still have the moonstone?" Velma asked. It became clear that although Wanda had possessed Velma's body, Velma had been aware of what was happening the entire time. Fred made his way over to the others, Shaggy by this point had begun running around with Scooby to maximise the distraction. Fred pulled out the stone from his pocket and was about to give it to Daphne when Wanda glanced in their direction. "THE STONE!" She completely turned her full attention to the others, leaving Shaggy and Scooby alone. She lunged at Fred, again causing him to crash to the ground. "Freddie!" Daphne called out, watching her boyfriend wince in pain. "WHERE IS IT?" Wanda screeched when searching him. "You're too late old lady." Velma smirked, holding the stone so she could see it.  
"HOW?!" Ignoring her question, Velma connected the final moonstone to the staff that Daphne was holding. Daphne handed it to Velma and smirked "I think you get to do this." Velma accepted the staff, running towards Wanda, who was also making her way to Velma. Velma jumped into the air, raising the staff with her right arm and plunging it straight through Wanda. "NOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed as she dropped to the ground, scrambling to try and get back up unsuccessfully. The rest of the gang joined Velma, each with their arms around another. "You- meddling-kids…" Wanda cried as she slowly disintegrated into a pile of purple dust. The gang cheered with triumph and all took turns hugging Velma.


	18. Chapter 18

A few hours after the gang had defeated Wanda, they were finally taking a hard-earned break on one of the balconies at the country club. They had already spoken to the authorities, reporters, residents and Thorny about what happened. Thorny had given them a cheque for $10,000 which would help them to replace the barn they had burned down. Everyone had thanked them for their hard work and after a celebration, the gang decided they just wanted to hang out together after finally being reunited with Velma, without the presence of Wanda's spirit.

"Well gang, I have to say this has been one hell of a mystery." Fred commented, sharing one of the outdoor sofas with Daphne, his arm draped around her shoulders. Daphne looked up at him, nuzzling her head closer against him. "I really owe it to you all for helping to get Wanda's spirit out of my body. A few times I managed to regain control over my body, like when Daph told me she was pregnant and when Shaggy asked me on a date. But I couldn't have done it without all of you!" Velma smiled as she spoke, gaining a few 'awws' in response. "We're like, really glad to have you back Velms." Shaggy said, lightly rubbing her arm with his hand as they also shared a sofa. Scooby gave Velma a quick lick on the cheek making everyone laugh as she grimaced at his dog-breath.

The gang chatted long into the night, reminiscing on funny memories they had on previous mysteries and general conversations as friends do. They were enjoying each other's company without having to worry about solving the mystery for the first time since summer began. Scooby was curled up onto one of the chairs with a cushion, fast asleep, and Daphne had drifted off in Fred's embrace. That left Fred, Shaggy and Velma talking about the mystery and how crazy it had been. Fred caught Shaggy's eye a couple of times and without words, Fred knew this was the moment Shaggy wanted with Velma since they got here. "Well, I'm beat. I'm gonna take sleeping beauty here up to bed. Scoob, do you wanna walk back with me?" Fred said, leaning up to cradle Daphne in his arms. Scooby slowly raised his head and stretched before saying goodnight to Velma and Shaggy. "Rets ro."

Fred carried Daphne up to their room, bridal style with Scooby tiredly walking alongside him. "Scoob?" Fred asked, as they exited the elevator onto the floor where their rooms were located. "Res Reddie?" Scooby responded, looking up at his blonde-haired companion.  
"You didn't really try to ruin the date between Shaggy and Velma did you buddy?" Scooby lifted his paw up to his heart as Fred finished speaking. "Rof course rot. Ri love Raggy and Relma. Ri want them to be rhappy." Fred smiled at him and petted his head as they reached their rooms opposite adjacent to each other. "I thought not. Goodnight Scoob, see you in the morning." Scooby licked Fred before he let himself into his and Shaggy's bedroom, leaving Fred to try and balance Daphne and open the door at the same time.

Shaggy and Velma watched the others leave and remained fairly silent until Shaggy broke the ice.  
"I was real worried about you Velms y'know." He said, turning his body slightly to face her. Velma smiled at his words and brushed over his hand with hers. "I know. You really helped me to fight off Wanda."  
"We all did. Listen Velma, what I was trying to say earlier-" Before he could finish, Velma put her finger over his lips. "Shaggy, I know what you were going to say. I like you too." Shaggy blushed as she spoke. "Really? What do we do now?"  
"Can we just take things slow? Its pretty early days and I'd hate for us to rush into anything and things be weird if it goes wrong." Velma gave him a friendly smile as she spoke. Shaggy seemed a little deflated, but he understood where she was coming from. Their relationship was different to Fred and Daphne's, they had always had that attraction there and couldn't keep their hands off each other. For Shaggy, it had been a slow burner with Velma. They had been friends for a while and he never questioned liking her as more than a friend until a couple of weeks prior to this. He pulled himself out of his thoughts as he realised, he hadn't responded. "Of course. I don't want to mess anything up between us." Velma smiled gratefully, and to Shaggy's surprise, she leaned in and planted a small kiss on his lips. When she pulled away, it became evident that both of them were blushing and not wanting the other to see. "We should call it a night." Velma said, standing up. "Yeah, c'mon I'll walk you to your room."  
"Shaggy, our rooms are next door to each other." Velma snickered, making Shaggy blush again realising what he had said. "Like, oh yeah." With that, they both walked to their respective rooms for the night.

Fred placed Daphne carefully in their bed, draping the blankets over her and tucking her in. She stirred as he moved away. "Freddie?" she said in a small voice as her eyes lightly fluttered open. "Damn it, I didn't mean to wake you!" he responded, moving her hair out of her eyes. She smiled at him and stroked his hand with her own. "It's okay. Are you getting in?"  
"Well I was gonna take a shower." Daphne pulled his arm so that he was laying beside her.  
"You could shower tomorrow?" She said, fluttering her eyelashes at him to which he laughed. She always did that when she was sweet talking someone on mysteries when they needed information. "Yeah sure, why not." He smiled and climbed under the blankets, still laying beside and facing her.  
"I love you." Daphne said, gently stroking Fred's face with her left hand before moving up and playing with his hair. He smiled at her and kissed her lips. "I love you too. I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing or saying that."


End file.
